Even Steel Bends
by allred12
Summary: A one shot about an experience Gale and Katniss share when they are 16 and 14 respectively. Hints at Gale/Katniss, but focuses somewhat more on Katniss's difficult relationship with her mother.


Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any characters.

**Even Steel Bends**

"AHHHHHHH" I scream into the woods. I know I must be scaring all the game away, but I don't care. I am furious, so furious. She just sits there. She couldn't be any more useless than if she was dead. I wish it was her that had died, not him.

"Katniss!", I hear Gale's deep voice scream.

_Great, now he thinks I'm hurt. When he finds out that I'm not, he's going to leave me on my own for sure_, I scold myself.

"Katniss! Are you okay, was that you screaming, are you hurt?" he asks in a rapid fire series of questions. He visually scans my body looking for any injuries. At fifteen, he is much taller than I am, and stronger too. I don't want to break down in front of him, but suddenly I find myself sobbing, crashing to the ground.

Gale is even more worried now. If I had been injured, he wouldn't have imagined such a raw expression of emotion. He's over by my side in a moment, hesitant to touch me, but eventually he does, putting one of his large arms around my heaving shoulders. He smells like my father, and for the first time in ages, I don't feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.

"Catnip, what's wrong?" he coos gently. It's an extremely gentle sound coming from such a big boy; it reminds the way he talks to an animal that's been hit with a bad shot, right before he delivers the merciful death blow.

"it's her", I whimper once I finally regain my breath.

He knows in a moment who I'm talking about.

"Oh, Katniss. That just seems to be the one thing I can't fix", he says. He sounds so much like my father with that statment that I lose it again and am unabashedly blowing snot into his rough cotton shirt. "You and Prim could always come live with us", he finally suggests.

"No we couldn't. Your mom has a toddler and two little kids to take care of. We can't add another burden on her", I mumble into his shirt. "And I can't leave my mother alone to die", I whisper even more quietly. But he hears me, he hunter senses on high alert because we still are vulnerable and exposed in the woods, and I just screamed where our location is.

"But Katniss, is she really worth killing yourself over?" he pleads.

I think of my mother, how I see her now. He muted blue eyes, dead to the world. Her lank blonde hair hanging around her shoulders. She's lost weight and her clothes hang off her skeletal frame like rags. She looks so emaciated and weak and hurt on a daily basis. Everything in me urges me to protect her.

And then my mind flits to Prim. She lost our father before she ever realized what he could truly mean to her. We both missed out on a man to look up to in our lives, to compare to when we choose who our husbands will be, but I had the chance for my father to teach me how to survive. Prim needs a parent, more than anything, even if that parent is just a useless shell.

"Yes, she is worth killing myself over, if it means that Prim can thrive", I say, my voice finally rid of any hysterics. I despise crying.

"Oh Catnip, who is going to take care of _you_", Gale sighs as he wraps his arms around me tighter.

"Who's going to take care of us?" I fire back. I'm not the only one here who makes sure everyone else's stomach is full before I take a bite for myself.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me", Gale retors. We are both hot headed. Both of us fail to see our own humanity. We don't think we are better, just stronger, or more calloused. He's pushed away from me, and he stares me straight in the eye. "I just need to take care of you, then I will be alright", he says. For a fleeting moment, I see something break in his eyes, like a mask has flown off, but within another second, the hard steel exterior is back in place.

I've heard Gale go on and on about the evils of the Capitol and the atrocities of the Hunger Games, but I rarely see him talk about people in his real life. We never talk about our fathers, we never talk about our feelings. But I always thought that our feelings were generally the same: we cared about our families above everything else in life. If they are fed and safe, then our jobs our done. I didn't really see how our 'alliance' good spread beyond that, but when the mask over Gale's eyes faltered, I saw something that I am in no way prepared to handle.

Gale genuinely cares about me, as if I am his best friend or his sister. The idea makes me feel truly safe for the first time in a long time. Someone whom I can count on, who won't stumble and fall if I share a little of my weight, is interested in my well being.

The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I look at Gale in a completely new light as he slowly helps me stand to my feet. "Here, I'll take you home", he says as he brushes some leaves out of my hair absentmindedly.

"You don't have to do that", I add.

"No, it's okay. Mom won't be expecting me home for a while, and I set some snares so I will just clean them up after you are settled."

We walk back to the Seam, silently but quickly, in pace together, just as we always do.

"Gale", Prim yelps when I open the door. She jumps from her place on the floor where she was washing the dishes in the tub. She must have filled it from the sink then brought it down to her level. She is scared of standing on the chair to wash the dishes, because she is convinced she will fall.

"Hey, Prim", Gale smiles. It's as if my earlier emotional breakdown never happened. Gale is a great actor when he needs to be. He crouches down to her level and looks her straight in the eye. "Katniss tripped on a vine and hit her head pretty good on a tree. Will you watch her carefully tonight, for me. I promise I'll bring back some rabbit meat in a little while", he says in a very serious tone.

At the onset of his words, I begin to act a little disoriented, trying my best to play the part. Prim loves playing doctor and moves around Gale to take my hand and guide me to my bed. As soon as I lay down, I close my eyes. I'm emotionally drained.

I wake up slightly disoriented and I hear voices talking above my head. For a fleeting painful second, I think it is my father talking to my mother, but then reality hits me and I strain to recognize the voice. It is Gale's, but it different than I have ever heard. It is gentle and low, but stern all at the same time. He is talking to my mother.

"You have to put more effort in, you need to wake up", he hisses. I'm not sure how I feel about Gale talking to my mother like that, but I am just too tired to really make any sudden movements, let alone rise from my comfortable position.

"I'm trying", my mother responds emptily. I can just imagine her standing there with her hunched shoulders as she tries to avoid eye contact. It makes me angry just to see it in my mind's eyes.

"She doesn't need you to be strong, she just needs you to be here. I can take care of the rest if you just do that for me", he says. His tone is different, he's begging I suddenly realize with a start. My eyelids fly open. I see two dead rabbits laying next to the kitchen sink. I don't see Prim anywhere, perhaps Gale sent her outside to gather some edible herbs that can be found around our house. "She needs to know that there is at least one adult left in her life that cares about her", Gale finally finishes. That seems to have crossed a line, I hear my mother start to cry thin, heartbreaking sobs.

"I don't know how to go on without him here", she says through shuttering breaths.

I can't stand to hear her cry. I suddenly sit up, but someone moved the coffee table dangerously close to my head. In my hurry to rise, I bang my head making a loud crack as bone collides with wood. I instantly feel woozy and see stars. I feel myself passing out, just as I see concerned steel eyes staring down at me.


End file.
